Don't Lie to Me
by CullenGril
Summary: Body Language Expert Isabella Swan has to help FBI Edward Culen track down a serial killer terrotizing women across the country, leaving victims only 72 hour window of survival. Edward has more at stake when the killer hits closer to home.
1. Chapter 1

I am normally a romance kind of gal. It will be interesting how this story evolves. Hope you guys like this one.

Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight. Stephanie Myer owns Twilight.

Chapter 1: The Fucking Coat and His Fucking Mouth

I hate this shit! I hate this fucking shit!

I've never needed help before; ever! Just because we are running a little late on this case, doesn't mean that we need another pair of hands. I mean, I feel that we are ready to get a search warrant for the residence and employment of Sam Uley. We have enough circumstantial evidence to convict the fucker! Fuck that new District Attorney, Rosalie Hale. She won't stop talking about "nailing the bastard without any possible outs" Well hell, that's your job woman. Bitch! That man is guilty! I'm 90% sure that he is guilty. I just wish I have a fucking motive. On the other hand, what can possibly motivate a man to scalp women, cut off their clitoris and sew their vaginas shut? I have seen some fucked up shit and this is beyond fucked up. How can you go around doing these to women and go about your day like nothing happened? Maybe the DA is right. Fuck, I need some sleep.

I pulled out my cellphone and quickly texted Jasper.

Remind me why I'm doing this again? - Edward

Because you and I both know that we are way over our heads this time. We need an extra pair of hands – Jasper

I hate it when Jasper is right. I'd rather win than be right.

And because your father gave you a direct order – Jasper

Oh Yeah, and that too.

My father, Carlisle Cullen is the Deputy Director for the FBI and as a Special Agent in Charge (SAC's), I kinda have to do what he says. I've heard about these Coats (I seriously hope I don't call her that to her face) from some of the agents. They said months and months of research were thrown away because the suspect twitched and scratch in front of these guys. What does a body language expert does that can't be done by field work? I took a last puff of my cigarette and flicked it towards the bushes. I pop some altoids in my mouth and started walking across the parking lot. I entered building 217 and headed straight towards the receptionist. I flashed my badge and told her that Ms. Isabella Swan is expecting me. She started typing on her computer and then dialed a number in her phone. She talked briefly on the phone and handed me an ID card. She then directed me to the elevator on my left and proceeded to give me instructions on how to get to Ms. Swans floor. I walked towards the elevator, pushed the number 12 and watched it lit up. I was to meet with a Jacob Black, Ms. Swan's assistant. He will be waiting for me by the elevator to escort me to Ms. Swan's office. I couldn't help but let out a chuckle. Why do these people need this kind of security? It's not like they are a celebrity or anything. I realized that I am feeling a little anxious. I am suddenly very aware that I am about to meet with these people who, from what I've heard can tell when you're lying just by looking at you. I just realize that I look exactly how I feel. Like shit!

The elevator door opened and a man wearing a white lab coat, eye glasses and pleated pants that has the straightest creases I have ever seen greeted me. It's exactly what I had pictured. Why do I always get crap from making stereo typical comments when people like these guys are begging to be called "squint" or "four eyes"?

"Hello Mr. Cullen, My name is Jacob Black. I am the assistant to Dr. Isabella Swan. He reached out to shake my hand.

Doctor my ass. "Hello Mr. Black. Special Agent Edward Cullen, pleased to meet you." Take that, you pompous ass.

"You are 10 minutes early for your appointment. Dr. Swan is still finishing up with her lecture with the CIA team. I will be back to escort you to Dr. Swan's office as soon as she is done." He motioned me to the chair on the corner and turned around to start walking towards to a long corridor ahead. Then, he stopped like he had an epiphany and turned around.

"Mr. FBI agent (what the hell?), you are more than welcome to see Dr. Swan finish up her lecture. She is quite...ostentacious.

"I will really appreciate it if you call me Special Agent," you jack ass. "I would love to do that. However, I would not want to intrude." I breathe a couple of times and put my best "FBI role model face.

"I'm sorry Special Agent Cullen, I was not aware that it is important to address you so properly. I will make sure Dr. Swan is aware Special Agent Cullen. And, I assure, it is not a bother at all. We have a two-way mirror in the room. She won't even know that you are watching. Not that it will make a difference in her performance if she did." He turned around and walked towards the door in the end of the corridor to the left.

_**Motherfucking son of a fucking bitch!**_

Is this guy for real? Who the fuck does he think he is? What the hell can be "ostentatious" about a woman talking about people touching their nose or fucking scratching their balls? On the other hand, the new DA seems to think that this girl will give us the break that we need in this case. She is supposed to be the "expert" on this field. I think she called her the fucking "Justin Bieber" of reading body language. Why the hell am I talking to myself? And why the fuck do I keep making air quotes while talking to myself? Is that even a word? Pull it together Cullen!

"That will be ostentatious Mr. Black. " I am not even sure if I used that word correctly. I apparently needed a dictionary to fucking talk to these people.

"Right this way Special Agent Cullen." Mr. Black opened the door for me. Just because of this, I am going to give your boss a fucking hard time Black.

"Thank you." I walked inside the room.

Let the fucking games begin.


	2. Chapter 2: The Coats and the Suits

Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight. Stephanie Myer owns Twilight.

Chapter 2: The Coats and the Suits

The room I was standing at is narrow. It has a long table on the middle, a couple of chairs and a couple of close up photos of people's faces framed, hanging on the wall. Every face has lines pointing to the mouth, eye brows and lips. What the hell are those?

"Microexpressions." Jacob answered my thoughts. "That's the field that Dr. Swan specializes. That photo over there talks about FACS, Facial Action Coding Systems. It's how we can spot when someone is trying to be deceptive. We use 7 universal emotions; disgusts, anger, sadness, happiness, surprise and contempt coupled with idiosyncratic signals and other body language to uncover people's intentions." Mr. Black walked towards the opposite side of the wall that has a huge looking mirror. He put his hand on a box and a voice came to life. It sounded like a young woman. I walked towards the mirror and saw a woman wearing a black suit with a black skirt, standing in front of the room, directing a sea of suits to something displayed on the projector. That can't be Ms. Swan! Shit! She's hot. Not like hot, "I want to bend you over that table and smack you in the ass while I fuck you senseless" hot. Who am I kidding? She is exactly that. She has this brown hair, long brown hair that cascades on her back and white pale skin, like porcelain. And those legs, fuck, those legs! They are long and muscular, maybe a runner? What kind of doctor looks this hot?

"She is pretty hot, but you probably should try to be subtle about it." Jacob looks irritated. I see we are a little protective, aren't we Mr Black?

'I don't know what you are talking about. She looks like any other woman to me." Liar!

"Liar!" Does this guy have some sort of mind reading power? He picked up a binder and proceeded to go to walk towards the door. "I'll leave you here to observe. I'll come and get you when Dr. Swan finishes her lecture." He turned to close the door but not before he gave me a chilling warning.

"And Special Agent? Don't lie to Bella. She doesn't like that." He turned around and closed the door.

What the fuck did I get myself into? Who the hell are these people? I feel like I'm on an episode of X-Files! I put my focus back to the woman standing in front me. She looks so... beautiful. I don't think I have ever used that term before about a woman. It's always been hot, smokin', fuckable but never beautiful. I turned up the volume on the voice box to listen to the coat's lecture.

"The body tends to betray the mind's intention. That's why reading microexpressions are much more reliable than lie detectors. Lie detectors tend to rely on physiological responses. When a subject takes a polygraph test, he or she is asked to answer control questions. The polygraph machines then records the subject's physiological responses to the truth and lies. However, a polygraph test won't be able to detect the subtle changes on your facial expressions such as that of the wrinkling of your nose and the raising of your upper lip suggesting a feeling of disgust. The polygraph machine only detects if someone is being dishonest but it cannot detect what they are being dishonest about. I'm sure each one and every one of you in this room can fake a lie detector test.' She winked at her audience and everyone stifled a laugh.

She's right about that. That was one of the things that I learned in the academy.

"There are certain muscles that are responsible for a particular emotion. The same muscles that contracts when you produce a fake smile are not the same muscles that contracts when you have a genuine smile. And these expression, these microexpressions are as natural as breathing. An average human lies three times every two hours! If we pay a closer attention to the subtle movements of a person's eyes or mouth, we might just get an insight to their intentions." She turned on the lights and the projected retracted back to the ceiling.

"Acquiring the skill to read microexpressions coupled with other tools can make you very good at spotting if someone is lying. This can help you become efficient on interrogations and negotiations. Give it a try at home. But please, don't do it to your wives. The last time I made a joke about that, four agents in my office came back the next day without a ring on their finger." She laughed at the memory. "I will see you all tomorrow for the last part of your training. Please don't forget to take your METT's and SETT's tonight. Keep doing it until you are atleast 85% proficient. You will need that for our exercises tomorrow. Thank you all."

All the suits got up and gave the doctor a big round of applause and I caught a glimpse of 2 cheeks flushed in pink. Damn it! I have to control myself. I am starting to feel a little uncomfortable down below and Dr. Swan will be here in a minute! Think of something else Cullen! Uhm... Football! Me tackling Isabella and pinning her down… Shit! My sister fucking… Gross! Okay that's working. Catching my Dad and Mom on the act at our summer-house when I was sixteen… Super gross! Thank God!

My eyes focused on the photos on the wall. 7 close up faces looking almost the same but different. Each photo has a word written on the bottom in bold letters; sadness, contempt, surprise, anger, disgust, happiness and fear. I would think that if I memorize how these faces looks like that I can spot it very easily. This shouldn't be that hard! I don't think you need to be a doctor to learn these things. Below those photos lies a quote written on the wall.

**You see but, you do not observe.**

"Sherlock Holmes." a woman's voice interrupted my inner monologue.

'Good morning Dr. Swan. My name is…."

"Special Agent Edward Cullen. Mr. Black informed me of your preferences. It's a pleasure to meet one of the best and brightest of the FBI." She walked towards me and extended her hand. I reached out to grab it and I felt the warmest feeling in the bottom of my stomach. She looked into my eyes and I feel like she could see my inner most thoughts. What the hell man! You are starting to sound like a chick!

"It's nice to meet you, Dr. Swan. I have heard some amazing things." I retracted my hand and stuffed it in my pocket. She looked at the hand that I shoved in my pocket and for a moment, she looked really deep in thought.

"I am the expert on my field. Please call me Isabella."

That's interesting. Mr. Black called her Bella but she is asking me to call her Isabella. I wonder why that is.

"I only allow people I know and trust to call me Bella. I assumed you heard Mr. Black call me by that name?"

Fuck! I can't work this kind of people. They are finishing my sentences and reading my thoughts. Who the hell said it was okay to just answer someone's thoughts loudly? This had to be the worst violation of privacy. I saw Isabella open her mouth and as if changing her mind, closed it back and turned around.

"Why won't we discuss the reason for your visit next door, at my conference room," She started to walk towards the door and I followed her. The conference room is just a couple of steps away and walking behind Ms. Swan this close is proving to be a little difficult to my cock. She has those shoes that have high heels and have red paint on the sole. She looks so fucking sexy with black and red against her skin. And that ass, man! I have not seen an ass like the one she has. Perfectly rounded and lifted on all the right ways. She opened the door and motioned me inside. She sat behind her desk and I pulled a chair and sat in front of her. This is like an episode of the naughty young student and his horny teacher that wants to get spanked. The only thing missing is bad lighting. I snapped out my daydream just in time to hear Ms. Swan's question.

"What can I help you with Special Agent Cullen?' she asked as she leaned back to her chair. I handed her the file I was holding.

"Please call me Agent Cullen. Rosalie Hale, our new District Attorney sent me here and said you might be of some assistance to my case." Please! As if her mind reading tricks will be of any use to my case! I mean, maybe, but I know guilty when I see it and Sam Uley is guilty in a stick.

'Why do _you_ think Rose sent you to me Agent?" She closed the file after briefly glancing at it.

'She thinks you can help us get a confession out of Sam Uley."

"Is that what Rose said?" she asked, staring at my face.

"No. But she seemed to think that you can tell if he is lying or telling the truth."

"Why do you think that he will confess if I am there?"

"I don't think he will confess but it will be nice if you can help coax it out of him."

"So, you are already handing this man a guilty verdict." it wasn't a question.

Wait; what!? "I did not say he was. We think he is, based on the piles of evidence that we collected. We just want to put an "icing on the top" as Ms. Hale likes to refer to it, by having an expert on lying tell him we know he is lying."

She got up and opened the drawer of her desk and retrieved what looked like a tablet.

"What else did Ms. Hale told you about my profession?"

"Just that you are a body language expert," She should have told me you were hot and feisty. I had Mary Poppins in my vision, not Angelina Jolie.

"I am. I also studied linguistics but I specialize on microexpression. Do you know what that is?" She tapped her tablet and a projector screen appeared from the ceiling. The room also went dark, leaving the projector screen to illuminate it. She walked towards me until she stopped, standing behind me. I can feel electricity in the room. But it wasn't coming from the lightning or the projector.

"I have heard of some from the last few minutes of your lecture." Closed up photos of the same faces appeared on the projector.

"A Microexpression is a momentary involuntary facial expression that people unconsciously display when they are hiding an emotion. It is very brief, lasting only about 1/5 of a second. Dr. Ackerman, who is one of the known pioneers in this study, shows that these expressions are product of chemical reactions that occurs in your body when we hide a certain emotion. It's almost a like a knee jerk reaction. Under trained eyes, these microexpressions are easy spot. For the average human being, it is nearly impossible since we are not trained to look for them." She tapped her table a couple of times and six closed up faces appeared on the screen.

"What you are looking at are the seven microexpressions. They are universal. It doesn't matter what country or culture the person came from, these expression always remain the same." Then, pictures of different people came into view. I recognize some of them, President Obama, Bill Clinton, Secretary Powell, and Kato Kailen; all of them showing an expression.

She started walking towards the table. She stopped right in front of me and sat on top of her desk. She crossed her legs and dropped her arms. Jesus! this woman is really asking for it. "The misconception is that we use this method to tell if someone is lying. But as a matter of fact, microexpressions only tells us people's emotions, it does not tell us that the person is lying. Just because someone says "Good job!" and flashes a microexpression of contempt on their face, it doesn't mean that the subject is not telling the truth about their emotional state. It just means that there is something about that feeling that bugs them."

"Now, Agent," She leaned a little closer to me. "Would you like to hear what I think the real reason you are here?"

I gulped. She did not wait for my response.

"I think you are here because you were forced to see me. You have no interest on trusting any of my opinions and you certainly have no respect on what I do." that was a statement.

"And furthermore, it really upsets me that you are here, clearly offended by what I do but at the same time your eyes can't stop undressing me!" Oh, she sounded mad now!

This Bitch! How dare her!

"Ms. Swan I don't know who you think you are but you have no reason to think the way you think about me, let alone make me look like some kind of a horny teenager." I stood up and started to walk towards the door.

"What if I can prove that I know exactly what you are thinking?" she said.

Then a face on the projector caught my eye. It was mine!

"There is a camera in this room that records the faces of people other than mine that comes in here. I am allowed to play it back one time for training purposes. Then it gets deleted, unless I get the client to sign a waiver for me to use it for future lectures or studies. Let me show you what you are not telling me." She started to play my video.

After a couple of seconds, she stopped the video. The frame shows me sitting down.

"Here is a perfect example of a subject who does not want to be here. Legs crossed, but more importantly, toes pointing to the door. Why don't you want to be here Agent Cullen?" she stared at me. I try to come up with a good comeback but I have none. I really just want to be out of here.

She played the video again and stopped.

"I am going to play this tape to you and slow it down frame by frame." She did and I looked at myself on the projector.

"What do you see?" she asked.

"Nothing, just me talking," I was trying to remember those faces that I saw earlier on walls of the narrow, confined observation room

She tapped at her tablet and a photo of another face closed up appeared.

"This is what disgust looks like agent." She tapped her tablet again and the face changed. Now the man's nose is wrinkled, like he smelled something bad. His upper lips are slightly raised, exposing teeth.

"Now I am going to slow it down from the normal expression, to disgust." She clicked a button. The photo started to switch from normal to disgust, normal to disgust until it was so fast it just looks like a twitch.

"Now let's go back to your footage." She put my video side by side with the close up photo of the man. She slowed both video to frame by frame and there I saw it; my nose crinkling, like there was someone breaking open a hard-boiled egg in the room. I felt the blood rushed into my head. I started feeling really hot.

"Every time you spoke about my job, this expression keeps appearing on your face. You have to understand. I am like a human lie detector. The worst thing about it is that I don't know how to turn it off. So when you sit there, putting your best FBI face and lying through your teeth, it makes me angry. No, not angry, I'm down right pissed off!"

"And to top it off," she played back my video and stop it to a very uncompromising position I am pretty embarrassed to even look at directly, "you adjusted your manhood about 5 times since you entered this room; you crossed and uncrossed your legs six times and your eyes kept travelling down my legs!" She continued to angrily tap on her tablet' my eyes suddenly coming into focus on the screen. "Your eyes are fully dilated. That's a classic sign of arousal." she flashed those pink cheeks again. She might think I'm a pervert but she sure as hell liked that she made me feel aroused.

I did not know where to go from here. Ms. Swan went back to grab the file on her desk and handed it back to me.

"As much as I would like to help, I think you and I will have a difficult time working together. You seem to have very negative perception of what I do and I will not tolerate any ridicule or undermining of my job just because you think I don't deserve the title PhD attached to my name." She turned on the lights and ordered the projector to retreat back to the ceiling. "For what it's worth, I think you are in the right track. The right track but the wrong guy."

What?! "This is what I am afraid of! You take a quick look at my file, a pile of _evidence_ that took me 28 days; 28 long days to compile and you think you know more than I do? You haven't even seen this guy yet!" I was so furious. There will not be any reasonable doubt on my case. None!

"I have, on television when your team arrested him. That man has sadness written all over his face. No serial killer can fake that emotion. They most definetly do not symphatize with their victims. They feel disgust, contempt, anger and fear but not sadness. They are never sad about committing those crimes. Your guy, Mr. Uley, does show guilt on his face but I do not believe it is same guilt that you are accusing him of. And no offense, but you are not as observant as you believe you are. Microexpressions are not something you can fake."

She started walking away and I still have anger streaming down on my vein. Then I remembered a promise I made earlier

"Bella, I will make you a deal. I will forget my entire preconceived notion about you and your "profession" if you can tell whether or not I am lying." I smiled a bit.

She seemed intrigued. That's right doggie, here's your bone. Come and get it sucker.

"Lying about what?"

"About whether or not I like you"


	3. Chapter 3: The Coat versus the Suit

Silence.

I feel like a fish inside a fish bowl. Ms. Swan is staring at me. I started to feel uncomfortable with my positioning but at the same time, I don't want to move in fear of triggering something unconsciously that will make me lose the bet. I tried to recall all the things she pointed out earlier; toes not pointing towards the door: check. Remember Cullen, no cock grabbing, no gulping, and no eye-dilating. I think there was something else but before I can recall the rest, Ms. Swan spoke.

"You know, the more you force yourself to not do anything, the more your body will betray you. Your true intentions will always show, whether you like it or not. It's your body's automatic response when you are trying to hide something." she paused for a second. "Have you seen Liar, Liar Agent?"

"Jim Carrey, right?" that was a pretty funny movie; a little over the top acting from Jim Carey but still funny as hell.

"I think that's how our body feels when we are trying to lie. The body goes in this kind of frenzy as it tries to keep up with the mind. Do you remember that scene where he was trying to lie and say that blue pen was red?" Yup, that scene was hilarious. He couldn't get himself to say it. He even try to write it down and he still kept writing blue instead of red. "Sometimes, I think that is what the body feels when the mind ties to be deceptive."

I refuse to believe that I can't hide anything from this woman. Maybe, if I play with the words, my body may think that I am telling the truth when I'm actually being non-committal with my responses. Maybe I will answer her question with a question; that always works for me. It's worth a shot.

"So, what do you think Ms. Swan?" I feel a bit more relax now. I think now that I have a plan, I can play this game a little better. I just have to accept that she will know when I am lying and work my way around it.

"I feel that I am in a slight disadvantage here Agent Cullen. You seem to have something to gain from this... game, should I call it that? However, I seem to lack the incentive to motivate me to do my very best at this competition. Contrary to what you think, I don't really care if you believe in my science or not."

"Why do you talk like that?" it slipped. I was thinking it and it just came out.

"Talk like what?" She asked.

"Like your from earlier colonial times." Fuck. Did I just lost my filter? What the hell is happening to me. I hope I did not offend her. I started watching her expressions, looking for subtle hints that I crossed an invisible line with the Coat. But then she smiled, just for one second before returning my gaze.

"I don't believe there is anything wrong with how I speak. Just because people choose to butcher the English language so they can feel accepted in society, doesn't mean I have to take part in it."

"So you don't care what people think?" I am starting to think she actually like the fact that I talk to her this way; straight to the point. She looks more at ease, like she's actually comfortable around me. It feels like having a normal conversation on a date. You know, when you actually want to truly get to know somebody versus saying all the right things just to get in her pants. Shit! Did I just say date? Fuck, I don't date! And I certainly don't date Coats.

"I don't because people never really say what they think, not verbally anyways." she looked sad for a minute.

"How old are you?" I am genuinely curious now.

"And in matters why?"

"Because you sound old." Shit! I know how women are when it comes to their age. Now I really hope I didn't offend her. Quick Cullen! Use your charms and come up with something witty to say!

She was staring at me..

Any minute now...

She turned around and sat on her chair.

Still waiting...

She leaned back on her chair, not breaking eye contact with me.

What the fuck is wrong with you Cullen?! Say something!

After what feels like an eternity, she finally opened her mouth. There was something different on the way her face looks. Like she was enjoying a private joke.

"I'm 27." she paused. I was about to say something when she spoke. "I remember my mother use to say that I was born thirty and I age everyday. It's funny that you are the first person who reference the way I speak to my age. Most people think I'm old because of my accomplishments."

We were silent again.

"I'll tell you what agent, I will play with you in one condition. I really don't care if you think what I do is crap so that is not a good motivator for me. So, how about this; If I am right, you will volunteer yourself as my test subject for my lecture tomorrow. If I am wrong, then I will help you with your case free of charge. I'm sure the FBI will thank you for that considering I get paid by the minute."

Damn, my father will get a kick out of that; his son working so well with another person that she feel it was not necessary to bill the FBI.

"Deal." I flashed a big smile. She stool up and walked towards my direction. I stood up as well.

"What is your name?"

"You know my name."

"I am trying to establish a baseline, so I can get a good read."

This is stupid. "Edward Cullen."

"Tell me a lie."

I thought about it for a minute. Here goes nothing. "I sometimes sing at karaoke bars with a man named Jasper who is a cross dresser and has a foot fetish." Jasper will get a kick out of that.

"That wasn't a lie. That was a half truth."

I stared at her like someone just threw me in a pool with ice.

"The part about the karaoke was true although the part about the Jasper fellow was a lie."

"How did you.."

"Do you like me Special Agent Cullen?"

"Define like Ms. Swan." Ha! Take that!

"You are deflecting. People tend to answer questions with another question as way of avoiding to answer that particular question. It's already a sign that you are lying or you trying to anyways. Try again Cullen."

I put up my best FBI face. "No, I do not like you Doctor Swan." I looked straight into her eyes. I made sure I did not break any eye contact. "I think you think what you do is so special that you come across as annoying and full of yourself." She looked at me for a few seconds. Shit! Maybe I was too harsh.

"You did not answer my question Agent."

"What do you mean?"

"What feature of mine turns you on?"

"I don't understand. I..."

"Is it my face?" she started walking towards me, trying to close the gap. I started walking backwards as if I we're retreating.

"My chest?" Well, I can't really see it under all that fabric Ms. Swan.

"My legs?" and before I can deny it, she pointed her fingers to my face.

"There it is. Legs it is. I was told that is one of my attractive features."

"Physical attraction is not always the same as liking someone Ms Swan." yeah, I fucked women I can't even stand.

"You are right about that Agent Cullen."

I am? Is she saying that she is wrong this time?

"So what's the verdict?"

"You like me." she said as if it was a fact.

"No, I don't!" the nerve of this woman!

"Let me stop you there Agent Cullen. Whatever you think the word "like" means to you, consciously or unconsciously, you feel that for me. When I asked you if you like me, you said "No, I do not like you Dr. Swan," you did not break eye contact the whole time you were talking."

I cut off her of as quickly as I can. "Which proves I am not lying. People who lie can't look at you straight in the face."

"People who are trying to be deceptive will actually do the opposite. They are trying to see your reaction because they are trying are to see if you are believing their lies."

I _was_ trying to see her reaction.

"You also crossed your arms. Crossing your arms typically means that you don't agree with whatever you are hearing. It's a reaction to something we don't want to really talk about or we are closed minded about. Right there your body and your words just disagreed with each other."

"What if I'm just cold?" I

"Then I should have seen both your shoulders raise up and your back slightly hunched. Instead, you stood tall, chin up and then you crossed you arms. You also shrugged your left shoulder. You did the same thing when you spoke about the Jasper fellow and said he was a cross dresser with a foot fetish, whatever that means. I also saw sadness on your face when you called me annoying and when you said I am full of it. After talking to you, you don't seem to be the type to regret what you say unless you really feel bad about it."

I really don't know what to say. Do I like her? No. I hate her. She is like a dog that won't stop barking.

"You know agent, I don't have many friends. The friends that I have comes from this profession. There is a reason for that." she sigh as if recalling a painful memory. "When you see what I see, it's hard to keep friends that you can fully trust, specially when they lie to you about things that are important to keep a friendship strong. I see so much everyday and sometimes those things that I see are the reason people's lives fall apart. So I learned very early to ignore the lies I see. I figured if they want my help, they will ask. If they have something to tell me, then they will."

"I am telling you this because sometimes your body is already aware of your emotions even before your mind." She then looked at me with those big brown eyes. I felt ill to stomach for insulting that face.

"I know that you are attracted to me. There are a lot of clear indicators. As soon as you are relaxed, your toes are pointed me, you smile genuinely and your body start to lean towards me."Then, she took a deep breath, like she was preparing herself for a long monologue.

"But, there is a part of you that hates me with a passion. That is the part of you who calls me Doctor Swan; who sees me as annoying and full of it. You see me as two people, a woman and someone who can see the truth. I think you are going to try to distance yourself to me because believe it or not, I know you have a secret that you are hiding from me. You keep on shoving your hands on your pocket and crossing your arms across your chest when I look at you. You keep showing fear in your face. As a woman, I think you will continue to grow feelings for me, whatever that means to you. You are right. The word "like" has different interpretations. You might like me as an opposite sex or may have more of a sibling/friend affections. But as the deception analyst, you will be one of those people who will be afraid of me because you are not ready to share those feelings you are trying to hide."

We were silent for a while. She is still looking at me. I picked up the file and handed it back to her.

"I'll see you tomorrow, Ms. Swan."

As I walked away, I saw a flash of smile in Isabella's face.


	4. Chapter 4

Sorry it took a while to write an update. The holidays got in the way and I had my first writers block! I hope this was worth the wait. Your comments are truly appreciated.

Disclaimer: I do not own twilight. Stephanie Myer owns twilight.

"Everyone stand up and raise your right hand."

Its nine o'clock in the morning and I am back at the Swan Consulting Inc. as promised. I did not get any sleep last night. I have no idea what's in store for me today other than I will be playing games with Ms. Swan. If it's anything like yesterday, I'm pretty fucking terrified. Ms. Swan is pretty good at this lie detecting stuff.

"Keep those hands up until I tell you to lower them down. Now, repeat after me gentlemen: I swear to tell the truth and nothing but the truth, so help me God." Ms. Swan paused for a minute. She looks like she is scanning the room.

"Now, all of you will stay true to the commitment you just made. All of you will be truthful except for Mr. Crowley, Mr. Newton and Mr. Lee. At some point today, the three of you will lie to me." she said that as if it was fact. The room erupted with murmurs, everyone looking at the three suits that Ms. Swan called out. Before anyone can ask anything, Ms. Swan turned around and walked towards the back of the room. She took her tablet to lower the projector screen. The camera zoomed in and focused on Agent Crowley.

"Please refer to Mr. Crowley's raised hand. Noticed how his hand stands very erect, his fingers are together and looks almost tensed. His hand is telling you that he will not open his mouth. At some point today Mr. Crowley will lie to me." Everyone looked at their hands, examining the position of their fingers. I looked at mine and my fingers are also bound together, just like Crowley's. I guess Ms. Swan finally had a slip up and missed me.

"And Special Agent Cullen will tell me some half-truths." Holy mother of God!

"Let's look at Special Agent Cullen's hand. Although his fingers are together, his wrist is slightly bent. His hand is telling you that he will tell you some version of the truth." She looked at me with a smile on her face. "We use this technique a lot in the courtroom when we are trying to assess the intention of the witness on the stand." Holy Fuck! No murderer is safe around this woman. I can't wait for her to interview Sam Uley.

"Special Agent Cullen will be helping me out today on some of our exercises. Glad to know that he will not be so forthcoming today or the next couple of hours will be pretty boring."

"You can all take a seat now and we will start by playing two truths and a lie." she sounds excited about this. I sat down on the chair that Ms. Swan has reserved for me; right in the front of the room, facing all the suits.

"Now, who would like to play?" That sounded so sexy coming from her mouth.

The man sitting in front of me raised his hand. "I'll play Dr. Swan."

"Thank you Mr. Newton." She walked towards Mr. Newton and pulled a chair right beside him. "Now Mr. Newton, Agent Cullen will tell you two truths and one lie. Using your new-found lie detecting skills, you will attempt to uncover which of his statement is true and which is false. Do you understand?"

"I'm ready Dr. Swan." The Newton kid replied. He looks really young and inexperience. This will be easy.

"Ready when you are Agent Cullen."

"Okay, Mr. Newton."

"It's Agent Newton." Fuck is this guy's problem.

I thought about this for a minute. I want to make this fun so here it goes…

"I have an older sister. Her name is Alice. I learned how to Tango when I was seven and I hate baseball." I tried to talk really fast and kept my body very still so I don't give anything away. Let's see how good you are Agent fucking Newton.

'This is a little harder than looking at the videos yesterday." Newton said. See Ms. Swan, I am a pretty good liar.

"I think he is telling the truth about hating baseball. I think I saw his nose wrinkled."

Holy mother! That was pretty good.

"That's good Mr. Newton. Now which one of his statement is a lie."

"I think he is lying about learning how to Tango. He lowered his eyes and I think I saw him touched his nose."

Not bad.

"Well done Mr. Newton." She took the tablet and replayed the video of me touching my nose. "There is actually some truth behind Pinocchio's story. We all know the story about Pinocchio and how his nose grew every time he lies. We actually have a lot of small capillaries in the tip of our nose and when stress is induced, the blood rushes to those capillaries and it makes us touch it without even being aware of it. When former President Clinton's testimony denying his affair with Ms Lewinksy aired, he touched his nose 27 times."

"But you are not entirely correct Mr. Newton. The first two statements we're half-truths." She looked at directly at me. "Am I correct Agent Cullen?"

"I.."

"You do have a sibling and it is a sister. However, there is a certain fondness to the way you say her name; so I'm thinking younger not older sister. You do know how to Tango but you did not learn it when you were seven. You actually smiled when you said "I learned how to Tango", like you were enjoying a private joke but then you hesitated for just one second and you looked to your right when you said you learned how to Tango when you were seven. When people look to the right, they are trying to get access to the part of the brain that is responsible for imagination. When people look to the left, they are accessing the part of the brain that is responsible for storing memory. So that means that you do know how to tango but you did not learn it when you were seven. So the question is, why share this particular part of your life that I assume is very embarrassing to you and lie about the details?"

Shit! I did not know how to respond to that. I was just hoping she will guess which one is right and move on to the next exercise. Then, I heard my phone ring. Thank God! I never thought I would be happy to hear that ring tone! I know there are times that I want to throw this goddamn phone on the wall but today, I feel like kissing it and buying it the most expensive case just to make it feel special. Meanwhile, in the midst of my celebratory mind dance with my phone, I saw a very irritated Ms. Swan who looks like she is ready to scratch my eye.

"Agent Cullen, I do not appreciate you taking calls on my time."

"I am sorry Ms. Swan. This is my emergency line. I have to take this." I stood up and walked towards the door and outside the conference room for some privacy.

"Cullen."

It was my father's voice on the other line.

"Edward you need to come to the office, now!" He sounded panicked and not in a good way. I don't think I have heard him talk this way since Alice ran away from home to meet up with his boyfriend in San Francisco.

"What's wrong Dad?"

"He took another victim!"

"Wait, we actually know this time that he has a victim? A live victim?" We've never had a live victim before. Normally, we find a body. This is good. Almost too good. "How do we know that this is real and not some part of his game?"

"He let the victim make a phone call."

"Okay, do we know the victim?" What's so special about this victim that our perp is bending some of his rules? He is not known to show his merciful side.

"Edward… he took your mother!"


End file.
